184 May-June 2016

#183 Food Justice As Co-op Differentiator
By Dave Gutknecht

NETWORK NEWS
Election Year! CGN Board of Directors
By Ellen Michel

Share Your Expertise: When it comes to co-ops, we are all subject matter experts
By Ellen Michel

Momentum Building for Mandatory GMO Labeling?
By Allie Mentzer

Expanding Healthy Food Access at New England Co-ops
By Bonnie Hudspeth, Micha Josephy, and Faye Conte

Neighboring Food Co-op Association: Five years later
By Erbin Crowell

OPERATIONS

Are You Ready to Compete? A crowded marketplace is the new reality
By Mel Braverman, Nicole Klimek, and Jeanie Wells

Beefing Up Your Marketing Plan: Making sure yours is still relevant
By Nicole Klimek and Joy Rust

Why Some Co-ops Fail: Six red flags from the past ten years of startups
By Stuart Reid

COVER SECTION

P6 Expands Equitable Trade Through Multistakeholder Cooperation
By Allison Hermes

Central and Tacoma Co-ops Merge, Approve Hybrid Consumer/Worker Structure
By Dan Arnett and Jeff Bessmer

Good Reporting: Helping boards understand workplace conditions
By Michael Healy

Issue Number
184
Issue Months
May-June
Issue Year
2 016

Issue's Articles

Title Issue Date

As we celebrate our first five years since incorporation, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) is looking forward to welcoming the co-op community to New England for the 60th annual CCMA (

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Co-ops bring to life their member-owners’ common values, and for most co-ops these include a desire for the co-op to be a great workplace.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Tacoma Food Co-op and Seattle’s Central Co-op always had a positive neighborly relationship.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

The Principle Six Cooperative Trade Movement (P6) exemplifies just and equitable trade relationships among farmers, producers, retailers, and consumers rooted in cooperative principles

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Four years ago I undertook an analysis of startup co-ops that had already closed.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

As competition creeps up to #1 on the “food co-op worry list,” many co-ops find themselves wondering how they can combat declining sales while not investing an arm and a leg in store labor and oper

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

In the back of our minds we knew that [insert name of competitor here] was coming.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

In 2011, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association, Cooperative Fund of New England, and Hunger Free Vermont came together to launch the Healthy Food Access project.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

The GMO labeling movement achieved some significant gains this past March, and advocates are ho

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Many of us are planning to attend CCMA (Consumer Cooperative Management Association) or other training events in the next few months, including the National Co+op Grocers (NCG) Marketi

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Every organization in our network relies on board members to offer guidance, oversight, and a range of diverse skills and perspectives.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016

Food co-ops face strong challenges to their market position and more than ever need to differentiate the co-op in a crowded marketplace.

184 May-June 2016 June 2, 2016